On April 14, NYPD officers fatally shot King Wong, a 60-year-old man with a history of mental illness, during an encounter in Astoria. Officers responded to reports of Wong acting erratically with a knife. Body camera footage revealed repeated orders to drop the weapon before officers fired 19 shots. While NYPD Chief John Chell stated officers attempted to de-escalate the situation, Gonzalez and Cabán critiqued the lack of true de-escalation efforts. They argued that the presence of mental health professionals could have changed the outcome of the incident, labeling Wong's death a tragedy.
King Wong was our neighbor. He lived in Woodside Houses. He was a 60-year old man with a history of mental illness, holding a knife, visibly confused and struggling.
This tragedy should never have occurred. NYPD officers took no true attempts at de-escalation before resorting to lethal force, which cannot be a method of ensuring public safety.
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